Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded in the Russian republic of North Ossetia on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 85 more, government officials said, according to the Interfax news agency.
The vehicle blew up near a market in the city of Vladikavkaz, the republic's leader, Taimuraz Mamsurov, told Interfax.
"Information that I possess indicates that the explosion in Vladikavkaz was organized by a suicide bomber, who drove a Volga 3102 car to near the entrance to the market," Mamsurov said.
Investigators said the explosive device contained the equivalent of 40 kilograms of TNT.
Separately, an anonymous caller threatened to set off a bomb at a school in the city.
"The (North Ossetian) Education Ministry has received a telephone call from an unidentified man, who said that an explosion would occur in a Vladikakvaz educational institution," the ministry said.
CNN
